After a Fashion (A Class of Their Own #1)(83)
“Is the entire dinner going to be like this?” Miss Dixon demanded. “I could barely enjoy my wine since Miss Peabody kept grimacing through hers and now . . . am I going to be forced to hear stories about Sam the turtle as I try to devour what I’ve always thought of as a delicious dish? I must say . . .”
Miss Dixon continued speaking, but Harriet didn’t hear the words pouring out of the lady’s mouth. She was instead caught under the glare of none other than Miss Birmingham, who was standing a few tables away, clutching her mother’s arm with one hand and pointing directly at her with the other.
Harriet’s only thought was to escape. She pushed her chair back, tossed her napkin onto the table, and dropped to the ground, where she immediately crawled under the table.
Unfortunately, she’d forgotten all about the numerous candles that were lit on that very table, and a second later, shrieks erupted, the loudest coming from Miss Dixon, and then the smell of smoke permeated the air.
18
Having no idea what would have possessed Harriet to duck out of sight, but knowing now was hardly the time to worry about that, given that all the linens were going up in flames, Oliver dropped to his knees and poked his head under the table. His gaze immediately met that of Harriet’s horrified one. Holding out a hand, he motioned her forward, irritation humming through him when she shook her head and began inching away from him.
“I can’t come out because Miss Birmingham and her mother are out there.”
“While that certainly explains a lot, if you’ve neglected to notice, the table is on fire, which means I need to get you to safety, and quickly, before the whole restaurant burns down.”
Harriet’s eyes turned impossibly wide. “You think the whole restaurant is going to burn down?”
The sound of splashing water, then sizzling, followed by water dripping through the cracks in the table and dripping on him and Harriet in the process delayed his response. The smell of smoke grew noticeably stronger, and his eyes began stinging before he began coughing. “Please, Harriet,” he finally managed to rasp, but to his extreme annoyance, she refused to budge.
“I just heard someone say the fire’s out, so feel free to leave me here,” she said.
He coughed again and narrowed eyes that were now watering on Harriet. “I’m not leaving you here, and you can’t stay under the table all night.”
“As I mentioned before, Miss Birmingham and her mother are out there, probably waiting to scream at me as soon as they catch sight of me, and that’s going to cause you no small amount of difficulty with the duke.”
“There’s no one left in the restaurant, save the staff, because the moment the table linens burst into flames, the guests made a mass exodus for the doors.”
Harriet looked more horrified than ever. “Management is going to be furious with me because I doubt any of those guests bothered to stop and pay their bill before they fled the fire.”
Before Oliver could respond, Harriet scooted backward and disappeared. By the time he managed to crawl out from under the table, she was in the midst of apologizing profusely to servers covered in soot standing around the charred remains of what had recently been a delicious dinner.
“I cannot put into words how sorry I am,” she said, her expressive eyes filled with what seemed to be tears, although given the amount of smoke still in the air, he wasn’t exactly certain about that. “Throwing my napkin down so carelessly was beyond irresponsible, and do know that I’ll personally take responsibility for the damage I’ve caused.”
A man wearing a suit, one that suggested he was the manager, stepped closer to Harriet and smiled.
“My dear lady, you must not dwell on this another minute. Fires happen here all the time, and I don’t hold you responsible.”
To Oliver’s surprise, Harriet immediately took to arguing with the man, her arguments only ending when he stepped up, introduced himself to the manager, and then promised the man he’d take responsibility for the damage, including all the bills that were not paid. With a very relieved manager left behind, one whom had been very gracious toward Harriet but hadn’t exactly hesitated to have them shown the door, Oliver tugged Harriet out of Delmonico’s.
“You’ll have to deduct the amount for the damage from the fee you’re paying me,” she said when they reached the sidewalk and she suddenly refused to take another step.
Rolling his eyes, Oliver let out a grunt. “Don’t be ridiculous. I’ll do no such thing, and as the manager kept telling you, situations such as setting the restaurant on fire happen all the time, so I’m sure the bill I’m going to receive won’t be that extensive.”
“You and I both know it’s not a common occurrence for a lady to set the table to flames.”
His lips began to curl but then thinned when he caught a glimpse of Mr. Birmingham glaring his way as Mrs. and Miss Birmingham pointed in his direction. For a second, Oliver thought the man was going to approach him, but then Mr. Birmingham took hold of Mrs. Birmingham’s arm, said something to his daughter, and with one last glare sent to Oliver, spun around and disappeared through the crowd lingering in front of Delmonico’s.
“Oliver, we’re over here.”
Pulling Harriet back into motion, even though she was dragging her feet, Oliver finally reached his grandfather’s side. Before he could do more than assure everyone gathered in a circle that he and Harriet were fine, Lady Victoria stepped close to him, began coughing uncontrollably, and then, to his great concern, began wobbling on her feet.